Tag Archives: Recipe

Potato Mushroom PepperJack Quesadilla

These yummy sandwiches were delicious!

3 Ingredients stuffed inside a toasted tortilla. How simple and easy is that?This is a great sandwich to let your kids make in the kitchen.

We sauted sliced mushrooms in olive oil until done. Then removed them from the heat and added a little more olive oil and diced potatoes. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and cook them until soft. Then combine mushrooms and potatoes together. Place a slice of pepper-jack cheese on a tortilla and add the potato mushroom filling. Toast on each side. Served with a side of Jalapeno Kettle chips or tortilla chips and salsa and this sandwich is a win win! Even my teen boys enjoyed it and asked for seconds.

Optional: The only thing I might add next time to my sandwich is a slice of avocado and some spinach leaves or I would like to have a slice of fresh from the garden tomato would be a great flavor combo with the cheese.

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Easy Roasted Roots

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Do you like root vegetables? I sure do. One of the easiest way to make them is to roast them in the oven. This method keeps all the flavor and nutrients in the vegetable instead of in your water or broth. It also carmelizes the sugars in the vegetables and they taste really mild and sweet.

I enjoy eating several roasted root vegetables all together and taste the seperate flavor of each one.

CHOOSE YOUR ROOTS

You can use any roots that you like. Some root vegetables have amazing health benefits and all are full of minerals and vitamins. Here are some ideas:

Sweet Potatoes
Turnips
Radishes
Red Onion (or white or yellow)
Parsnips
Beets
Radishes
Potatoes
Carrots
Leeks
Etc.

Easy Roasted Roots

2 Sweet Potatoes
1 Parsnip
1 Red Onion
4 Beets
4 Carrots

Peel and chop your veggies to the desired size for cooking. The smaller sizes will cook more quickly than the larger sizes because roots are very dense. I like to leave my beets slightly larger than everything else because honestly I want the nutrition of part raw part cooked beets and this is the best way I have found to achieve that. Bake in an oiled pan at 300 degrees until done, about 45 minutes or so.

Everything got nice and soft except for the center of the beets and that is what I want. However, you can get the beets very soft by keeping all your veggies the same size and baking for the same length of time. Again, if you leave some big and some small, the small ones will get soft all the way through but the larger ones will take longer to achieve if that is your desired result. Check on them often to be sure they are not burning and also to rotate them in the pan if needed.

When they are done, they have the most amazing flavors. You can use them many ways now like blend them into purees for soups or smoothies, pancakes and quickbreads, and also use them in roasted root sides and salads. YUM!!!

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Black Bean Quinoa Pilaf

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This dish smells amazing! It is fast, simple, and nutritious! I am putting one foot in front of the other as I make wise choices to eat healthy. Healthy doesn’t have to mean you spend hours in the kitchen. Healthy meals can come together fast and easy.

Talk about fast, this meal comes together in 5 minutes by premaking some ingredients once a week and storing them in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to use them. I make a big batch of several healthy foods like quinoa use them for several dishes throughout the week.

I use my premade quinoa, and fresh salsa from the fridge to make this quick lunch. But if you don’t have those on hand, allow yourself an extra 15 minutes or so to cook your quinoa (dry quinoa and water and heat for 15 minutes), and to chop your fresh salsa veggies.

Black Bean Quinoa Pilaf

1 can Black Beans, drained

1/2 to 1 cup fresh salsa

1 cup pre-cooked quinoa, (or use 1/2 cup dry quinoa plus 1 cup water )

1/4 tsp chili powder (optional)

1/4 tsp cumin (optional)

1/4 tsp sea salt

Heat everything in a sauce pan over medium heat about 5 minutes if using premade quinoa. You will need to cook for 15 minutes with a lid on if using dry uncooked quinoa and add the extra water. Don’t cook too long or you might over cook your quinoa. If you like your beans softer, heat them on the stove first until they become the texture you like. Then add your quinoa after that.

Use this dish as the main meal, or as a side dish. For the main meal, you can serve it with a side salad and fresh cucumbers, or use it as a filling for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, stuff it into peppers or potatoes or zucchini or serve it like a taco salad, or blend it smooth into a dip and serve with veggies or tortilla chips for dipping. You can also put this in the blender and cream it with water, broth, or milk of your choice to make a smooth protein packed soup and serve with tortilla chips or warm bread.

My personal preference is to make my quinoa ahead and add it with raw salsa both right at the end so this dish stays nice and fresh tasting. I keep a double batch of quinoa so I have this ready to go in my fridge and another batch in my freezer to use for super quick nutritious meals. It’s all good!!!

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Tuna Pepper Boats

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This is a delicious lunch. It foocuses on lean protein and lots of low glycemic vegetables. This meal is a lot of food, and it is bursting with fresh flavors. Though it seems like a meal for lunch, I really enjoy this for breakfast too. I find filling up on a great salad and lean protein at breakfast or lunch helps to curb hunger pains. If you find you are still hungry with this meal, try adding some chicken, steak, or turkey bacon to the side salad. I often use this salad as a base in my meals on Phase 2 and then add meats to make a whole meal. But today I wanted to pair it with egg whites and tuna so I came up with these fun little tuna pepper boats.

Tuna Pepper Boats
FMD Phase 2 (THM E-Meal)
2 servings
157 calories, 1 fat, 9 carbs, 2 fiber, 26 protein, 10% Vit A, 130% Vit C

1 bell pepper, seeded and cut into four wedges or “boats”
1 can tuna in water, drained
1 stalk of celery, chopped (I love using celery stalk loaded with leaves and chop it all)
2 Tablespoon red onion, chopped or sliced thin
2 boiled egg white, chopped small
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/16 tsp ground pepper
1/4 lemon, juiced

Mix all the ingredients (except the bell pepper) together. Stuff the tuna mixture inside the bell pepper wedges. Serve.

Side Salad
FMD Phase 2 (THM E-Meal)
2 servings
37 calories, 0 fat, 8 carbs, 3 fiber, 2 protein, 84% Vit A, 56% Vit C

1 cup baby spinach, chopped
2 cup romaine lettuce, chopped
1 cup cucumber slices, cut in half
1/2 cup radish slices
1/4 cup red onion chopped
1 lemon, juiced, or serve the lemon wedges so folks can squeeze on their own dressing.
sea salt and pepper to taste

Toss it all together and serve.

Life is what you make of it. Be blessed and enjoy the journey!

This post will be linked up with:
Raising Homemakers
Raising Memories

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Oh My! Chocolate Chip Cookies!

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This is not your ordinary cookie! Oh no, no, no! These cookies taste like…OH MY!

These are a delicacy! They are so good and crispy on the outside, gooey and chewy on the inside! With just a surprise of CHOCOLATE on your taste buds! Everything and more that your mouth desires in a chocolate chip cookie! Oh my!

Oh My! Chocolate Chip Cookies! by Weiser Academy

Now let’s talk about healthy! These are healthy as well as delicious. Think I’m off my rocker to call a good tasting cookie healthy? Do you think to have healthy food you have to give up great taste and texture? Nope! Think again!

I know what you are thinking, you have eaten too many hocky pucks labeled cookies and had too many “healthy” cookies crumble in your hands before they get to your mouth, or worse taste like a cotton sock stuck in your throat once you got them in there! Yeah, I hear your pain! I know because I have been there, done that, in the name of getting healthy. You know what I mean if you have used specialty flours to bake with and your cookies came out to dry or gritty! It makes a person want to say goodbye to cookies all together.

So to reach my personal standard of a “healthy food” category for my family, I try to find foods that meet these criteria: First and foremost, the ingredients need to be natural. Can I get an AMEN?! Did God create them, or were they created in a manufacturing laboratory? Even if God created them, did some scientist invent a way to alter them, or spay them with poisons to kill off pests? If they are not a natural product, and they were not raised by a natural process, then forget using them. Second, they need to be nutrient dense. They must have a diverse spectrum of nutrients to benefit the human body.

Here is a run down of why these cookie ingredients are healthy foods:
Spouted flours are gluten-free, low carb, phytic acid free, enzyme activated, power house flours
Healthy Free Range Eggs from chickens that roam the land in search of insects and green grass produce Omega 3 rich eggs and have more vitamins and nutrients in them than store-bought eggs.
Quinoa flour is also gluten-free, contains balanced plant proteins, and is high in minerals like calcium and iron.
Almond flour is gluten-free and contains fiber, vitamin E, and more.
Flax meal is high in Omega 3 fatty acids
Butter from grass-fed free range cows is rich in CLA, Vit D, Vit A, essential fatty acids, and numerous vitamins and minerals.
Aluminum free baking soda is alkinalizing to the body.
Sea salt is rich in a whole spectrum of minerals.
Oats help to lower blood pressure and assist the vascular system.
Chocolate has antioxidants that help the body fight free radicals and cancer.
So for all of these reasons, these cookies are a healthy food.

I have altered these gems, to lessen the stress of gluten on the body. I am making them gluten free by using sprouted flour. With a few tweaks, I have increased the protein, amino acids, antioxidants, minerals and vitamins, and omega 3 fatty acids from a regular chocolate chip cookie and the amazing thing is you won’t know the difference. Seriously you cannot tell and your husband and kids are going to love them and your body will thank you!

Oh My! Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups sprouted wheat or spelt flour (or use all natural wheat or spelt flour)
1 cup quinoa flour
1 cup almond meal flour
1/2 cup flax meal flour
1 1/2 tsp aluminum free baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
2 cups gluten-free quick oats
2 – 3 cups chocolate chips (your choice depending on your preference: semi sweet, dark, skinny chocolate, sugar-free, dairy free, etc.)

Wet Ingredients:
5 medium free rage eggs
2 cups healthy saturated fat. I use grass-fed butter (or 1 1/2 cup butter plus 1/2 cup coconut oil).
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 cups of sweetener of choice. I like to use a sucanant sugar. It is highly nutrient dense. But I also use a stevia erythritol blend to make these cookies a whole lot easier on the blood sugars. You choose! If you want to keep these cookies more like a traditional chocolate chip cookie, try making them with 1 1/2 cups of sucanat and 1 1/2 cups evaporated cane juice.

Method:
Mix healthy fat and sweetener together until light and fluffy. This takes 3 to 5 minutes with a mixer. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix gently and set aside.

Mix flours, baking soda, and sea salt together and stir lightly with a fork to combine. Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients. One cup at a time of the flour mixture, and blend until mixed before adding in the next one.

Add in oats and chocolate chips.

Drop by spoonful onto parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes at 350 degrees until done. Remove pan from heat and let cookies cool on pan for 2 minutes, then remove to a wire cooling rack for about 20 minutes until completely cool and store in an air tight container.

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Summer Grilled Chicken Pecan Salad

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A salad is a great way to eat a healthy meal, if it is topped right. You can convert a plate of lettuce into something amazing with just a few ingredients.

Besides veggies and fruits, be sure to include proteins and healthy fats when making your salad too. There are vitamins and minerals in greens such as lettuce, kale, and spinach that require healthy fats to make them extractable and usable by the body.

A great thing about salad is that it can use up leftovers from a previous meal, and it can be made a day or two ahead and refrigerated and still taste fresh when you go to eat it. That makes it a wonderful convenience and budget friendly food too.

One thing I really like about summer is cooking meat outside over hot coals. It gives meat such a delicious smoky flavor. And in my opinion, no meat on the planet tastes better with a side salad, or on the main entre salad than smoked meat! And a little goes a long way too. So go ahead and have a nice dinner with your grilled meat, but save a few extra pieces for leftovers to use as toppings on salads to enjoy later during the week too. Here is a delicious salad I made with leftover smoked grilled chicken breast.

Summer Grilled Chicken Pecan Salad

Ingredients:

Grilled Chicken 2 oz cut up

Romaine Lettuce 1 cup shredded

Baby Spinach Leaves 1/2 cup shredded

Romano or Plum Tomato 1 cut into small pieces

Pecans broken into large pieces 1/4 cup or 1 oz

Lemon 1/2 cut into wedges to squeeze out juice as dressing over salad.

Directions:

Wash, chop, cut, and toss!!! Your salad is now ready to serve! It just can’t get any easier other than if you made it up a day ahead, and all you had to do was walk to the fridge and pull out a delicious prepared salad when you are hungry.

Nutrition:

Calories 214 g; Carbohydrates 15.7 g; Net Carbs 12.4 g; Fiber 3.3 g; Protein 10.4 g; Fat 13.2 g; Vitamin A 6025 IU; Vitamin C 34.7 mg; Vitamin K 134 mcg; Niacin 3.9 mg; Folate 113 mcg; and a good source of manganese, magnesium, selenium, iron, potassium, zinc, and so much more.

Optional: a drizzle of good quality olive oil and a sprinkle of Himalayan sea salt would provide even more great nutrients to top off this salad with.

This is a delicious meal anytime of day. Lunch, supper, or split it into two side servings to go along with another meal. I would even eat it for breakfast too.

Enjoy!

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